It's stopped raining.........

but more is predicted. Meanwhile, just to give you an idea of what the rain has been like, the Midi-Libre posted readers' pictures and there are couple that are of interest as they are places we've been. All the photos are at: http://www.midilibre.fr/2014/11/28/intemperies-envoyez-nous-vos-photos,1089220.php#xtor=RSS-5

But remember when I told you about going to Palavas for moules? This was yesterday:

When we cycled along this walkway, the beach was waaaaay out, but not yesterday.

And when we first moved here, we walked about 500 metres towards Juvignac and saw a Roman archway that had received some damage in the storms of end of September. We took this pic:

And someone took this one yesterday:

We kept dry this morning on our way to and from the market. I bought a pear and roquefort cheese flan for my breakfast. Sorry no pics, as I devoured it with my first cup of coffee, at noon, just as the band of pain from lack of caffeine was circling my head.

Off to book club now to discuss Remembering Babylon, by David Malouf.

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man.....

and I are enjoying coffee and scones in the comfort of our cozy apartment. Once there's a break in the thunder and lightening, we'll take a tram to the big box stores, including Ikea and buy a few little things for the grandchildren and the attend a book reading at the local English bookstore, aptly called Le Bookshop. And tonight I will attemp duck confit.

Beaujolais Nouveau

This wine was delivered to the stores on Thursday, and we bought our bottle on Sunday. We were told to drink it right away, but waited......and it was worth it. During the wait, we decided to drive, on Monday, to Le Pont du Gard. An amazing structure, built just after 19 BC by the Romans and some helpful slaves, to bring water 48km away from a spring near Uzès, to the town of Nîmes. It is the highest of all Roman aqueducts, at 157ft, and just proves what we were all taught in school....that these Romans were a clever lot. No cement was used, but they did crush limestone to make a mortar.....their gift to future builders.

and below, I'm standing on the first level of arches, so you can see how really enormous this is.

And last night, I prepared bits and bobs to eat slowly, to go with the beaujolais. 4 kinds of cheese....roquefort, camembert, comté, and chèvre....terrine of rabbit, tomatoes, olives, devilled eggs, smoked trout, some carrots, and of course bread. Sugared pâte à choux for a little light sweet after. 

So rich, so good. I'll never be able to eat cheese at home again. At least, I'll never be able to afford it.

11éme Fête des Vignes, or 3 days of wine tasting!

As I type this, I have the lemon pudding in the oven and Pink Martini playing through the speakers. But enough of cozy home life. The last three days there has been a wine festival in Montpellier, and surrounding area. For Friday and Saturday, 37 wineries were in the Espalanade Charles-de-Gaulle, almost an extension of the Place de Comedie. Little wooden huts were set up (and more of them will host the Christmas market starting next week) and for 2€ you received a glass (not plastic) and tickets for three tastings. Some tastings were more generous than others, but it was fun, especially with new friends, Charles and Jeannette, recently returned from the States as after the tasting, they thought it only right that we sit in one of the outdoor restaurant bars and share a bottle of rosé. Good thing Les and I were walking home.

We returned on Saturday and of course, there was music,,,,,,.

and food........

and entertainment......and we were also given a free breathalyzer, mandatory in all cars.

Today 32 of the area domaines/caves were open, so we plotted a bicycle trip to visit 5 of them and off we went. By 10:30am, were were in the village of Saint Georges d"Orques and couldn't find the first one on our list, so headed to the second, which produces the wine that is sold in the Cooperative just arround the corner from us. There was a party going on. Line dances, a great band that could cover Johnny Cash, John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel. Amazing! This time, wine tastings, as many as you wanted, were free and the moules were 2€. Here are some photos to give you the floavour.

The next one we went to, Domaine de Saumarez, looked closed up, but when we knocked, a young woman came to greet us. Born to Biritsh parents here, she had just graduated from a university north of London. We couldn't figure out which one, so we asked and it was Cambridge. How modest. We'ver heard of that university in such humble tones.

Next stop was Domaine Belles Pierres, where I bought a wine that will be best around 2020, so will put it downstairs for Doug and Carol to enjoy. Then on to Domaine Saint Julia which was situated in what looked like a three story home. They had opened the garage, the two boys (13,14?) were in charge of selling the wine and using the visa machine. 

This domaine also had a nice spread and the sister of the owner approached us to chat as her son was studying in Montreal. She missed him and he missed cheese.

And after one more stop in Grabels, we tottered on home, six hours and 32km and many hills later. Dinner was charcuterie from the fridge, enjoyed with a little red wine from our local cave. 15€ for 5litres. Oh my, it's going to be hard to face the wine and cheese in Canada.

No, we're not in Iceland

For some reason the Iceland blog has popped up again on various emails. Don't know why, but we are not there.......we are still in sunny Montpellier. My little red shoes have left Iceland, again, by post, so maybe blogger knows that!

A busy week

I know that it's hard to believe that we could be busy, but this week has been so. We had arrived by from Arthez-de-Béarn, via Foix, on Friday and so on Saturday decided to do laundry (and hang it out in the sun) go to the Arceaux market (fabulous, as usual) and then catch up on some email correspondence. But then I thought I'd check Le Bookshop website and found there was going to be a book reading in 2 hours, by Rachel Panckhurst, of her book, Fait Maison, Recipes from a Kiwi in France. And there were going to be treats. So, we went! A good excuse to get out and be with other people. I bought her cookbook......because and we enjoyed some cheese biscuits and snowballs. (Anyone remember those?) The reading was in French and English. The French part was her talking about how she came to France as a young woman and the English part was reading from her book. 

On the way home, we passed a Pharmacy that sold the support stockings that I wear, so we carried on home and I brought back the stockings that I have. They are now so old (six months) that they are starting to slip down my leg in a most embarrassing way. The young woman in the store was very kind, measured my legs again, ordered the correct stockings and said they would be in on Wednesday. The price was 46€ per pair so I ordered two pairs. At home these are $175 per pair!!!  I will be stocking up on these before I come home. (no pun intended, although I can see Binners rolling her eyes).

Sunday, we decided to do an urban cycle, following tram lines and getting further north into the rural area. Even with my Garmin, we managed to get lost, but had lots of fun and cycling in the sun was lovely.

Monday, we walked downtown to have coffee, as the return trip is 10km, so that means we can reward ourselves with some lovely bread. But on our way downtown, I realized we had not brought our map. Not that we would get lost, but sometimes we see something interesting and I like to jot it on the map so that I can find it again, like the wonderful health food store we found, with all sorts of goodies that we haven't seen anywhere else. So off we went to the Tourist Information in La Place de la Comedie, to get a map and found that just behind it, on the Esplanade Charles de Gaule, little wooden huts were being prepared. So I asked if there was a Christmas market being set up. No, that's not until November 28th. The little huts are being prepared for Fête des Vignes on Friday and Saturday this week. 37 local wineries will have their wares for tasting and 2€ buys you a glass and with that comes 3 tastings. What fun! And on Sunday, 32 domaines and caves, usually open by appointment, will open their doors. We can easily cycle to about 4 of them, so we hope for a sunny day.

We walked most of the way back but I was starving and we were due to go grocery shopping so I thought a 9€ lunch of chicken in cider with creamed polenta sounded just the thing. We had passed Le Sens Six every day walking in and out of town so finally decided to stop and so glad we did. Yummy food and the wine list gave us the idea that we should return.

Yesterday, another bike ride to Palavas for moules frites. It's 42km return journey so we feel we can justify this:

The mussels were much bigger this time and not smothered in onions. We still have many restauratns to try for comparison purposes, of course. And as we were getting on our bikes to go back, I saw the chef (sitting) and the waiter, pausing for a smoke break outside the restaurant.

Today, were were invited out for lunch with Charlie and Jeanette, friends of our landlords.They picked us up at 11 and off we drove to LeGrau du Roi, a charming village on the coast, just west of the Camargue area. Lovely to walk in the sun and then lunch. After the chêvre salad and soup poisson,  three of us enjoyed the gambas and I had Iles flottante for dessert.

On the way home, we made a quick detour to see the outside of the Aigues-Mortes, the port from which Saint Louis sailed off to the Crusades. It is no longer a port, as it has been marooned 5km inland by the muck of the advancing Rhone delta. It is very impressive as the walls are more than 1.5km in length. Again, we will return for a day visit, as there is a whole town still existing inside the walls. (and maybe we'll find some more moules)

Trying the French roads

We've just returned from a lovely visit to friends who live about an hour and a half from Saint Jean Pied de Port, three days walk if you're a pilgrim. Eddie and Les were great friends in school, and reconnected by email a few years ago and in person last year. They were our first pilgrim stop when we walked the camino in 2013. So, we've spent three full days laughing, catching up, and Eddie and Irene sharing tips with us, on how the French do things, and eating the most wonderful food. We are now realizing the joys of long lunches and easy conversation, followed by a small snack in the evening. Certainly you sleep better.

Here is the view from our bedroom window towards the Pyrenees. And no, that is not the beginnings of a garden being planned. That's the result of the local boar, who comes to rip up lawns and gardens with his snout.

Our last lunch with Irene and Eddie. Cava and some tapenade in the sun.....November 12th.

Followed by chaud chèvre avec miel, below, and then skewers of shrimp, scallops and salmon. Yum!!

And on Thursday morning, it was time to say goodbye. So we packed the car, took our gifts of eggs, and Carrefour tuna and headed to Foix, to a famous Chateau and Abbey. Both lived up to expectations. We took a room at the Hotel Lons and below is the view from the room about 2pm.

And this is the view from the bridge back to our hotel. You can see the dining room, lit up a bit, and our room is just above it.

Dinner started with the local Ariège salad, which included hot gizzards. I've never seen that on a menu, but it was delicious!

And I had the salmon, topped with breadcrumbs and chorizo with a lovely pile of creamed leeks.

Isn't eating fun????

Our first biking adventure

First, to those of you who have signed up to receive the blog by email, I hope you are enjoying it and thank you for your interest. Just to clarify that if you try to us the "reply" button on the email, I will not receive it. It goes directly into the ether. If you leave a comment in the comments bar that appears at the end of each blog entry, then I do receive that as part of my email. I hope that's clear to all. We do check our regular email and are happy to hear from so many friends. Thanks.

So, for our adventures. As you know, I bought a bike and with the Pocket Earth App on my ipad and my Garmin, and the bike map of Montpellier, I charted a route to Palavas, famous for moules frites and the Cathédrale de Maguelone, which we had visited last week by tram and foot.

So by 10am, the sun was shining and so was my bike, so off we went.

This was about the halfway point to Palavas and the farmer here had put in a toilet for walkers and cyclists and also a vending machine with water and pop etc. A little further on, we saw tons of flamingoes and realized that when they spread their wings, they match my cycling jacket.

I'm terrible at selfies but what the heck.......on the beach at Palavas

We stopped for coffee in Palavas at noon and then rode on to the Cathédrale. The building is 11th century, saved from ruin and restored in the 1870's. Quite a gem.

And then we cycled back to Palavas for the moules, which were served with about a cup of onions on top. And yes, I ate the whole thing. 

Huge serving of moules, but of course, not too filling, so the ride back to Montpellier was fine. Except for........some of the bike lanes we had ridden in the city in the morning were one way, so our return route became a little complicated. The wonderful thing about this Garmin though, is that once we went off route, it would set about getting us back on route through a maze of little used streets.

We made it home by sunset, just after 5pm, having clocked 51km. This is the first time that I've been on a bike in a year, so my bum was a bit tender. I crashed for an hour and then we took a tram in to town to attend pub night with the British Cultural Association. Really, it's a group of English speakers (there were about 20 last night) and they organize different activities such as St. Andrew's Day, wine tastings, walks, pub quizzes, etc. Some of the people there had lived in Montpellier for 40-50 years, some had lived in France for at least 30 and there we were....the newbies. Everyone was welcoming though and it was nice to make contact with English speakers.........besides each other ;-)

Walking and biking

We seem to have "theme days". On Sunday, we walked to the bricante (boot sale type market), that's less than 500 metres from here. We had gone specifically to see if we could find a bike worth buying, and although we saw about 40, they all seemed to be in different stages of disrepair. We did visit all of the stalls of used "stuff", and found it amazing what people will expect others to buy. We walked back for a leisurely breakfast and then decided we'd try to find the walk that our landlady, Carol, had suggested, so off we went across the bridge that overlooks the Roman arch that fell in the floods a month ago, and found a path along the river. Now, normally, this path would have been beautful, but the river rose so high, taking huge garbage containers with it (we saw 3 of the lids) that the trees and branches were littered with plastic. Evidence of how high the river rose was clear.

The various plastic pieces, bits of clothing, etc. are about 20-25 feet above the river, which now looks like a stream.

We continued to walk, and found ourselves following tractor paths through the middle of vineyards. It was hard to believe that huge swaths of agricultural land are so very near to a major city.

And then we contiued to walk some more. With some directional help from a jogger, we headed up a small road and three hours after we had left the apartment on our 45 minute walk, we returned!!

Yesterday we did the big box thing, looking for a bicycle. I found a great one for 199€ at Decathlon, a sporting goods store, kind of like MEC or Sports Chek. We then went to a Géant Casino where we saw 8 bikes, one of which would have been fine for 179€ but the seat was missing and could not be found. On to Carrefour and another bunch of bikes, one at 159€ that might work. But do I really want to buy a bike at a grocery store? I'll decide later in the week.

We arrived back home just in time to go to the Cave Cooperative (5 minutes by foot) and buy a couple of wines. This was our first (and definitely not our last) visit and the wine we chose was fabulous at 4.20€. 

We also chose a 2€ wine for cooking, marinating, etc. This is going to be sooooo much fun!

Thanks to you who are reading the blog and occasionally sending emails. We love to hear your news too. Please remember that you can't respond directly using the blog, but have to send to Les at his UVic address or me at my gmail one.

Discovering Montpellier

We walked again to town, trying to vary our route but something was pulling me back to the aqueduct and sure enough, the Arceaux market was in full swing.

Chrysanthemums, to purchase, to put on graves, and definitely not to be bought as a housewarming gift. Many seem to be sold at this time especially, as November 1st is All Saints Day. The children have had a two week break from school for this as well.

One of several cheese stands

As you can see, we showed up at the market about just before closing, so many things had been sold out.

A couple of partridges and a rabbit anyone????

We continued our walk into town and then took a little tourist train through the old part of town, introducing us to buildings, churches, museums and some history. A great overview. The train started and ended in the Place de la Comedie and this is Les standing near one end of it. It is purported to be the largest pedestrian square in Europe. Les and I both think the one in Krakov was larger.

And here is part of the children's park at the other end.

So, we returned to a few of the places to which we had been introduced, one being the Carré Sainte-Anne, a deconsecrated church used for exhibitions, which are libre, so we enjoyed viewing the current show.

And just outside this church, what did my little eye spy????  A cheese bar!!!

I can hardly wait to return.

A long walk in the sun

Yesterday, as promised, we had a walking adventure. We took the tram from just outside our door, to the end of the line in the south. From the end of the line, we could have taken a bus, but that would have been too easy, so we headed off on a 3km walk to Carnon, which is a thriving port city for pleasure craft. I have never seen so many sailboats and motorboats......thousands it seemed. We found a patisserie, which was our first goal and had coffee, croissant for Les and pain au raisin pour moi. And then we retraced our steps so get to the other side of the huge harbour, headed toward the beach, and walked for about 5km on this.

Some hotels and private houses on one side and water as far as you could see on the other. I thought that maybe if I waved hard enough and long enough, Stefan, Hannah and Sal could see me. (Trin, if on the beach, would be eating sand, so I knew he wouldn't even look up.) The town in the far disance was Palavas and what a town it was. Restaurants, cafés and ice cream shops galore. The moules frites looked particularly good and we promised ourselves that next time, we would stop and enjoy them, hopefully on a bicycle trip. All this commerce stood on either side of this canal.

I stopped for an ice cream and then we headed off again towards the Cathédrale de Maguelone, which our friends Don and Jude, from Melbourne, had told us about. Well.........we walked and we walked. We passed lovely maps with "vous êtes ici", but whoever was charged with putting the signs up, didn't realize that there was an order to be followed, so at times we appeared, on the maps, to be going backwards. It was quite funny actually.  We passed many signs guiding us to the cathedral, but when it finally came into view, it would have been at least another 2km, which doesn't sound like much, but that's another 4km on sore knees and hot sun, so again, we decided to leave it until we return on bicycles. The church is interesting, in that many towns have no history, but this is a history without a town. Apparently it started as a Phoenician or Etruscan trading post, prospered under the Romans and Visigoths and became the seat of a bishop. Although the town was destroyed by the 800s, the area still had salt, and so that powerful and progressive multinational, the Church, took it over. The Cathédrale de Maguelone was saved from ruin and restored in the 1870s, so when we do visit, we will have a lot of history to absorb.

We walked 2km back along the beach, another 1/2 km on the road and waited for the bus, which took us to the tram, which took us to the Géant Casino, where we bought lettuce and Dorade...a fish. The fish is weighed with head and guts in, and then scalled and cleaned, but no beheaded, then stuffed in a bag with a self adhesive close and then a plastic bag. We are pretty sure the Dorade is the Dorado that we loved in Mexico and certainly the taste was terrific. Another km walk to the apt. so we stayed in for hallowe'en, enjoying the fish, some ratatouille some of the zuchinni bread that I had made.